God's of Iron and Greed

A person searches for the man that saved their life, only to be entwined in a war and more than they bargained for.

Submitted: March 16, 2016

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Submitted: March 16, 2016

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Following a train of larger and larger more fantastical tanks, we slowly inch forward with the underground city far behind us, a vast desert to the right and in front, and a tall stone cliff to the
left. We turn left into a small rocky cape, small pebbles falling to the machines rumble, with a large black iron gate to our right. The gate opens, and the tanks fall inside while I get out of the
petit jeep I had hijacked to search for the one who had saved my life.

I remember it was a man in black and red with a black spherical helmet and thick ruby bullhorns on either side akin to the Egyptian goddess Hathor's headdress. Inmyhomevillage I had barely awoken
from my slumber when the green and blue army had marched into town and started to kill any suspected of aiding the enemy. I was dragged from my home to the center of the town with others who
villagers had ratted to be aiding the enemy where the persona had or the village didn't like that person. I had not talked much with the townies, so I supposed that is the reason I was brought up.
Our silent line was then harassed by their leader of how aiding the enemy is a crime punishable by death. One man who was tense an frightened gave in to his instincts and tried to flee,
only to be gunned down without hesitation by one of the armed men behind the leader. The leader persisted that if any of us are spies or the like we talk and he will make our deaths quick and
painless. None of us dared to respond. He mozied his way to the left side of our line. A small woman who's ancient frailty caused her to shake even when she was not terrified was questioned by the
large daunting man, "are you with the Dark's?" Trembling uncontrollably she stuttered "n-no I-I-I" only to be shot down by the man's pistol mid-sentence. "Yes or No, I don't want to hear
anything else unless asked," He moved on to the next person asking the same question in the same manner as he has asked the lady. The next person who was a burly man quickly replied no, and was
shot none the less. "I don't believe a man who looks and sounds like he belongs in the military and is in this run down shitty village." This process of asking a question, getting an answer,
shooting, and giving a reason for each shot continued until it was finally my turn. He asked his question as he did all the others. A large ball swelled up in my throat, and my hands became moist
with fear, knowing that if I did or did not answer I would be shot. Hoping for a miracle I gaped my moth open to give an answer with no words being able to be produced. As the man pulled
the gun up to my forehead, I closed my eyes as the gunshot rang in my ears.

Realizing that I was still standing, I opened my eyes only to see the man lying in front of me with blood pouring out from a hole in his head. My eyes darted around with the frantic men of green
and blue as they and I looked for he assailant. Another gunshot rang hitting another square in the head. My eyes followed the smoke trail to a rifle held by a man in red and black. I looked up to
see who my savior was, only to be blocked the titular horned helm. Another gunshot screamed past me hitting a soldier in the shoulder followed by another shot by the green and blue towards the
horned man. The man fell to the ground and began to fire in rapid succession. Over the dune to the west came tanks, jeeps, and many foot soldiers in red and black. I fell to the floor as bullets
whizzed over and explosions tore homes apart. I crawled my way to a felled stable and hid myself under the hay.

As the last of the trucks passed, I snuck my way into the base just as the iron gates closed. The iron war factory was the home and operational center of the rebellion. The government deemed these
people, terrorists, as they well should have, for they would utilize methods of attack that infringed on any human's basic right. Killing civilians that would get in their way, raping any person
captured whether they be male, female, civilian, or an enemy dog of war. Many speculated that the black and red symbolized their darkness and the blood they are willing to spill. Despite all this I
was determined to meet the man who had saved my Life.

Sticking to the shadows, I searched for the man with the black helm and red horns, or, at least, the helmet itself. Men and women would march in unison through the halls of the base, their feet
making a single noise when the step and their rifles on their backs would clang against their metal armor. Though the hive was lit, it was still dark due to most of the areas being made of dark
metal and crimson tapestry. Machinery was being crafted thru out the entire base, for tanks, guns, and other means of death and destruction. Though being not being seen was no easy task, the
constant banging and crashing of metal, that got louder as I made my way deeper into the base, hid my padded steps.

The smell of food somehow made it past the smell of oil, sweat, and rust, causing me to realize that I had not eaten in a long time. I crept to the mess hall, and to my delight I spotted what I had
been searching for, the black helm with red horns. It was seated on a table where sat four people, two women and two men, all in a similar garb of red and black camo. The helm sat closest
to a man, which lead me to assume that that man was the one who saved me. Luckily the group was off by themselves in the corner of the mess hall next to a large iron pillar. Fixing my stolen garb I
emerged from the shadows making myself to be as though I was supposed to belong, and walked to the table.

Forgetting everything I am brought to my knees and tears in the presence of my savior. They all looked me queerly, but before any of them could mutter a sound I thanked the man over and over for
saving my life. Over and over Ithank him,until one of the women had had enough and sternly told me to shut it. The man denied having ever saved anyone's life and told me that he had
the wrong person. But then I told him the tale of how he saved me and how grateful I was. He then tried to veer my adoration away by proclaiming that his group who had been to that village
committed many atrocities and that I should not be thanking him that im alive but angry with him the he destroyed my village. His attempts were in vain, though, and I continued to thank
him. After I had calmed down a bit, I got to truly look at my rescuer. He was an average build, with black hair and white, but tanned skin. The female is white with brown hair. And the two others
seemed to be maternal twins with both having darker skin and straight brown hair.

Coming to the conclusion that I was not truly part of their regiment the blond woman stood up, took in hand the rifle she had on her back, and put the barrel of her rifle to my forehead. "Who are
you really and why are you here?" she barked, drawing the attention of those around us who's attention wasn't already grabbed by my sobbing. "Speak now or I'll blow your brain out!" I calmly told
her that I was there to meet my hero and to thank him. "Like I'll believe that, it's that stupid helmet isn't it, the Cool's must think it to actually mean something, HA!" She motioned
for the man to pick up his helm, "this helmet is nothing it's just something this idiot made because he thought it would look cool." I assured her that I was no spy and that the helmet was only to
help me identify who it was that saved me. But little too late, a high ranking officer made his way over to us to inquire what the fuss was about, and swiftly I was taken away.

After a few days of torture proved fruitless to them, and their medications to make me loose-lipped spilled nothing of interest they gave me a choice, either join them or die. Obviously, I chose to
join them, not only to avoid death but that I also might be able to get closer the helmed man. I spent a few weeks in training, rigorous, harsh, and painful training. But all was well for
the night before I was to be assigned a squad, I wished for that squad to be with my hero which let me sleep peacefully that night. My wish was granted, and I was assigned to squad S7 with the
twins, Herndan, and Handan, The blond woman Sheena, and my godsend Kaam. As was made evident the whole squad, they were to watch my every move because they still believed me to
be a spy, but this was alright my dreams were coming true.

Within my first week I learned about the rebellion, about the hierarchy of the Dark military and how many of the higherups are fairly twisted people. One woman that is in the
third tier likes to sexually harass people and is quite rude while a man who is in the first tier is calm and cool but enjoys physically ripping people apart. While there are more than a few cruel
people who are high-ranking there are also good ones who only wish to see the rebellion succeed so they can make the world a better place. This is S7 squad's belief, that although their leader is
strange for allowing such cruelty in their ranks, the vision that they share and the power that the leader seems to have is maybe enough to change the world for the better.

Months went by, and I grew ever closer to my new found friends. We would spend most days at the base doing odd jobs and training but every now, and we would be sent out on a mission or to help
advance the campaign. I somehow managed not to kill a soul and still be trusted by the Darks. This continued until I finally came in contact with him. We were to clean the latrines of the lowest
floor, where the lights were dim and the air humid and rank. I had emerged from a long time cleaning to find myself face to face with something not human. It was a large sphere floating with two
heavily armored and heavily decorated people next to it. The sphere was oozing with black spheres that had red highlights that seemed to melt into the floor. My eyes darted left and right to see if
anyone else saw the abnormality that I had but to no avail. The sphere spoke with voices of what seemed to be many people echoing in my mind. It asked if I was alright, but rather than saying yes I
pulled my rifle from my back, pointed it towards him and said in a voice similar to his "You may have good intentions, but you are still as barbaric as ever."

The next thing I knew I was lying down on a beam suspended over the mining city of Nid. My face felt hot, and my ears were ringing, did I dream all of that? As I looked around, I saw small white
orbs with silver linings falling, and as the orbs touched the ground the faded away into nothing. Looking deeply into one of the orbs I realized who I was and who the leader of the Darks was. We
were not humans, but we still originated from this planet. In ancient times, our ancestors were revered as deities and we flourished with thousands of our kind. Now we are fewer than twenty and
most of us in hiding, with four still interacting with the humans that took so many of our ancestors lives. Though we are powerful and we have the power to bend space, time, and will we are not
Gods and can die. When the humans found this information so long ago they took up arms against those of us who were callous and wicked to them; then they moved on to kill any that ruled over their
lives in rebellion for having to serve. We, like humans, are not wholly good nor wholly evil, though some of us can be more of one than the other.

Along with me, Dark, Cool, and Bright are four that have found a place of power among humans and have integrated ourselves into their lives. Cool has risen to power and due to his greed and
gluttonous nature, has made it, so humans of lesser classes are in a state akin to slavery while the rich feed of these poor people and stomp them down when they try to protest. Dark, though having
sadistic tendencies did not approve of how Cool was manipulating and handling the humans, so he created a rebellion of people that wanted to tare down their government and took up arms against
Cool. Bright watches from afar as she has control over a prosperous civilization that shuns any wanderers or outsiders. As for me I do not fully remember my place in the world, in fact,
all I can remember is my human life as well as the state of the other four, nothing of my ancient past, nothing of my true life. After this remembrance I drifted back to sleep.

Waking up, I was in a hospital standing behind Sheena. I ask her why we are here, she looks to me with fearful eyes that might as well have seen a specter, "Kaam has been injured, I'm here
paying him a visit." Worrying about my friend, I rush to the other side of the room to see him sleeping peacefully. Sheena emerges from the curtain clad in her typical red and black camo suit, but
she apparently has risen in rank and now has eight stars on her sleeve showing that she is now in the second tier. She explains to me that after I had met with Dark, he had become very peculiar and
send his top assassins after me, and shut himself away for nearly a month. The man wakes up and is shocked to see me, asking if he was dead. I tell him that he is alive and well and that I had come
to visit him. His eyes teared up, and he raised his arms in an attempt to embrace me, which I happily obliged to. After our reunion, I talk with them for hours about things I do not recall, and
slowly I faded away as though I was waking from a dream.

I did awake from that dream, but I was somewhere I had never been before. I was in a long sterile white hallway, and by my sides were Sheena andKaam. To my left, Sheena was in her usual apparel,
but rather than black and white, her camo was different shades of light gray. To my right Kaam was in a silver gown that covered his hands and feet. Behind me were the
twins with heavy silver armor and helms like that of Kaam's, but white, in their arms. I noticed on the twins shoulders where nine stars, making them be in the top tier of the ranks.

As we walked none of us spoke, and after a short while, unfamiliar voices started to talk to me in my mind. These voices were unlike Dark's; they were kind and thoughtful. The told me of what had
happened while I was away, and what is to come in the future. The also told me who I truly was. Indeed, I was White, a being above humans, but I was also Than, a human from the village of Une. Long
ago Dark and White had fought for they both thought to dethrone Cool but neither agreed with the others Ideals. Dark wanted to use the humans as living weapons while White wished to treat them as
equals. These ideals lead to a spat between them leading to Dark nearly killing White. White ran away and made a new home in the mind of a newborn, so Dark would have no way of finding
them. This newborn was me, and as I grew up White slowly regained it's power. White assured me that up until the confrontation with Dark, all my life, and all my choices had been mine. I
was the one who lived and grew up in Une, I was the one who had almost died to an invading army, I was the one who had a borderline sick obsession with finding the helmed man, and I was
the one who made friendships with the members of squad S7Herndan, Handan, Sheena, Kaam. White apologized to me for taking my body for the past time and apologized further sying that
it can not leave my body until I die. It promised it and I would have us the body together, and neither of us would have full control. I looked to Kaam, who looked back to me and said,
"welcome back friend."